Last weekend I learnt that i can comfortably fit 50 people into my small backyard. I opened my backyard by request to Hunter Organic Growers Society and saw a flood of interest in my fish, yabbies, veges and Aquaponics ways.

Most people had not seen Aquaponics in action and the day was filled with questions and answers- a great day of education. Many people assumed that Aquaponics was complicated and costly but i was able to showcase what i have achieved in my backyard with mostly recycled materials, limited financial resources, time and effort. It was a great day to highlight the need for home grown food production regardless of land area that you have available.

We discussed how fish waste essentially provides all the nutrients required to grow my vegetables which sit above the ground at waist height, how maintenance free the design is, weed free and a simple inexpensive design. The growing space is utilized in a much more efficient and effective manner to most peoples traditional vegetable gardens that require greater land area. I took some time discussing the water’s pH and carefully timed siphon system as well as the addition of macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients that are important to successful growing results.

At the end of the day- When it works, it works! You don’t necessarily have to understand how- just try it. The fish and bacteria do all the work for you.

Aquaponics not only saves you time in the garden but it’s a sustainable solution to save you so much money as well. Almost anyone can garden with Aquaponics!

Thought you may like to appreciate that International Permaculture day is almost on us again for another year. May 5th 2013. Although Aquaponics can stand alone as a super vegetable growing system, a successful balanced Aquaponics system uses many of the same permaculture design elements. This annual event is a great day filled with education and passionate likeminded people. Last year i opened up my home Aquaponics grow beds, gardens and fish ponds up to the public on this day. This year i’ll be visiting some other backyards to check them to see what inventive things people are doing and i encourage you to do the same!

MEDIA RELEASE: “You can fix all the world’s problems in a garden… You can solve all your pollution problems, and all your supply line needs in a garden. And most people today actually don’t

know that, and that makes most people very insecure.”- Geoff Lawton, Permaculture Research Institute

Geoff Lawton should know. He turned a strip of desert in Jordan into an abundant food forest that will provide food for people for generations to come. And that’s just one of many permaculture solutions being pioneered around the world. We can’t ignore that the world is in crisis. The fresh food, clean air and secure income that so many of us take for granted is no longer a given. No community is immune when we depend on fossil fuels and debt, cheap labour

and food flown thousands of miles. If we don’t create more sustainable supply lines, then we face the prospect of collapse. The good news is that we can survive this and even thrive, if we act now.

This year’s International Permaculture theme is Grow Local! to highlight the value of permaculture design for building local resilience. By using the tools of permaculture and a

little community spirit, we can start to meet our basic energy, clean water and fresh food needs, right in our own gardens.

This year’s theme is Grow Local! to highlight the value of permaculture design for building local resilience. By using the tools of permaculture and a little community spirit, we can start to meet our basic energy, clean water and fresh food needs, right in our own gardens.

Food for thought- Whats water doing? How can we assist our planets water resources?

The introduction of fossil fuels into agriculture reduced much human suffering around the world — but it also created a massive spike in global population, creating an ever-growing need for more food. While our population continues to grow exponentially in every country, our resources for growing food — from oil (for fuel) and natural gas (for fertilizer) to freshwater and topsoil — are rapidly depleting around the world. The price of food is also a real concern as resources increase in value.

Eating organic and eating local helps minimise fuel transport issues yet are only part of the solution. How do we reform global industrial agriculture so that we can feed nearly seven billion people (and rising) without wasting precious resources needed for at least the rest of the century? How do we build the food resilience of communities which have grown dependent on food supply chains built for a world of cheap oil?

The video below helps explain these issues clearly. Its long at (45mins) however raises some good points for further consideration, thought and action.

Fungi Foray

A free event for Landcarers and Community Ecosystem Monitoring Volunteers. Learn about fungi and how to identify different types.

Meet at the Landcare Resource Office, 80 Toronto Rd, Teralba

Limited places so please call the Landcare Resource Office on 4921 0392 by 24 April to book your place.

Free Showerhead Exchange

Hunter Water and Lake Macquarie City Council invite Hunter Water Customers to exchange their existing water guzzling showerhead for a water efficient one. Free and low cost premium options available.

Westfield Kotara Shopping Centre, outside Woolworths Supermarket

Thursday 2 May10am – 8pm

Friday 3 May10am – 4pm

Saturday 4 May10am – 2pm

Hunter Water, 36 Honeysuckle Drive, Newcastle Westor

Hunter Water’s Customer Service desk at Lake Macquarie City Council, 126-138 Main Road, Speers Point

Monday 6 – Friday 31 May9am – 5pm

Littoral Rainforest Plant Identification Workshop

Saturday 4 May, 10am – 2pm

Help protect and improve the ecological value of Littoral Rainforest. The workshop will include an overview of native plant species found in Littoral Rainforest Communities, ecology and identification principles, and an introduction to Plantnet and other useful resources.

Location: Landcare Resource Centre, Teralba

For further information or to book your place contact the Landcare Resource Centre on 4921 0392.

Salts Bay Community Event and BBQ

Come along to a walk and talk, with free BBQ, to learn about the rainforest of SaltsBay and Swansea Heads.

Location: Meet at Reids Reserve at the end of Lambton Pde, Swansea Heads

Bookings essential to the Landcare Resource Centre on 4921 0392

Create your own Naturewatch Diary – Workshop

Saturday 25 May, 10.30am – 12.30pm

There are many ways to record the seasonal changes in your garden or local bushland. Build your awareness with tips from an expert and document your observations for future generations. All participants will receive a copy of unique template developed by the presenter, in addition to a Naturewatch Diary.

send you a free garage sale kit, including tips and hints, to have the best garage sale ever

Win $500 towards your electricity bill!

Council has launched the 2013 Bust Your Bills competition, a fun initiative to help you reduce your energy usage and save money on your electricity bills.

You could win $500 towards your power bill, as well as fantastic monthly prizes.

Community Environment Grants (Caring for our Country)

Applications for Community Environment Grants program which offer small grants of between $5000 and $50 000 to help groups undertake on-the-ground activities and increase their skills and capacity to protect the natural environmenthasnow opened.

A wide range of activities are eligible including activities that increase biodiversity in and around World Heritage Areas; developing land and sea country management plans, holding field days and conferences to show-case innovative sustainable environment practices.

Activities also extend to training local communities to participate in environmental protection, working with local governments, regional bodies and industries to reduce pollution entering urban and coastal waterways and marine environments and recording and using Indigenous ecological knowledge to deliver conservation outcomes.

Applications are open to groups Australia-wide until midnight (12am AEST) Wednesday 8 May.

Grant guidelines, application forms and further information is available from the Caring for our Country website: www.nrm.gov.au.

EcoSchools Grants

This program provides grants to schools to give them the opportunity to involve their students and community in developing and implementing environmental management projects.

The overall objective of the Eco Schools program is to support schools to develop best practice in environmental education and innovative solutions to environmental issues.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program Is Now Open

The focus of the Program is for primary school students to learn how to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh food in the belief that this approach will provide a better chance of positively influencing children’s food choices.

The Program provides one-off funding of up to $60,000 (GST exclusive) to eligible schools to cover infrastructure costs associated with building a kitchen and garden.

Volunteer Grants – Australian Government

Volunteer Grants 2013 recognises the valuable work of Australia’s volunteers. This initiative forms part of the Australian Government’s ongoing commitment to organisations whose volunteers assist disadvantaged communities and encourage inclusion of vulnerable people in community life.

Funding of $16 million is available to support and encourage volunteering. Eligible not-for-profit community organisations can apply for grants between $1,000 and $5,000.

This film below tells the story of a South Los Angeles edible garden planted in a surprising spot. Ron Finley, its planter, constructed the garden the way he wishes his neighborhood could be. And his vision of repurposing unused open space, like that of many others working together on urban agriculture in our city, should inspire us all, and remind us of how, with a little creativity of vision, and willingness to get our hands dirty, we can remake spaces defined by asphalt and dead grass into productive places of beauty.

TO LEARN MORE about the food movement in Los Angeles and how to get involved visit the Los Angeles Food Policy Council:
http://www.goodfoodla.org

There are many benefits of an Aquaponic system that can benefit elderly gardeners. The most noteworthy benefits are the following

No digging in the ground is required to create plant beds

Very little watering is required for the system to function (save as much as 90% water)

No chemicals are used in the process

The system is sustainable

Production of 100% organic vegetables and fish

Aquaponics systems are self-contained and require no digging in the ground to prep the bed, heavy lifting of soils and mulches and even watering is at a minimum with the Aquaponic system. Although there is a set-up that needs to take place with any Aquaponics system, once the system is in place there are many benefits that make it an ideal gardening system for the elderly.

Once the system(s) are in place they can generally be maintained comfortably from a seated position, making maintenance and harvesting of the containers easier for the elderly

Containers can be made so that those in wheelchairs can easily access them

Aquaponics use 90% less water, therefore watering of the system does not need to be done daily, or even weekly and can be accomplished when help is available

No heavy lifting is required once the system is in place. This includes things such as: hoses, watering cans, soils and mulches

Aquaponics systems do not require the system to be “tended to” on a daily basis. In fact they prefer not to be disturbed. This is ideal for those who cannot get out into their garden daily but still want to reap the benefits

Gardening in itself is therapeutic, many people report the same therapeutic effects from the Aquaponic systems as they had previously gained from their previous gardens

Aquaponics systems do not require much room and can be grown in a small backyard, on a patio or balcony or even indoors

Aquaponics systems can be grown at senior centers are part of their activity programs with little ongoing care/maintenance required, plus the residents get the benefit of the fresh vegetables

Fresh vegetables without having to go to the supermarket!!!

Aquaponic systems can be used to grow many varieties of vegetables and can even be used to grow flower beds. The satisfaction that comes from growing one’s own food is immeasurable. The system is being used in homes, senior citizen centers, community gardens and farms around the globe including third world projects in Haiti, Kenya, India, PNG and Mexico.

Simple actions by consumers and food retailers can dramatically cut the 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted each year and help shape a sustainable future, according to a new global campaign to cut food waste launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and partners.

Worldwide, about one-third of all food produced, worth around US$1 trillion, gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems, according to data released by FAO. Food loss occurs mostly at the production stages – harvesting, processing and distribution – while food waste typically takes place at the retailer and consumer end of the food-supply chain.

The ‘Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint’ campaign is in support of the SAVE FOOD Initiative to reduce food loss and waste along the entire chain of food production and consumption – run by the FAO and trade fair organiser Messe Düsseldorf – and the UN Secretary General’s Zero Hunger Initiatives. The new campaign specifically targets food wasted by consumers, retailers and the hospitality industry.

The campaign harnesses the expertise of organisations such as WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), Feeding the 5,000 and other partners, including national governments, who have considerable experience targeting and changing wasteful practices.

Think.Eat.Save. aims to accelerate action and provide a global vision and information-sharing portal (www.thinkeatsave.org) for the many and diverse initiatives currently underway around the world.

Part of the trigger for the campaign was the outcome of the Rio+20 Summit in June 2012, in which heads of state and governments gave the go-ahead for a 10-Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Patterns. Developing an SCP programme for the food sector must be a vital element of this framework, given the need to sustain the world’s food production base, reduce associated environmental impacts and feed a growing human population.

“To bring about the vision of a truly sustainable world, we need a transformation in the way we produce and consume our natural resources,” said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

According to FAO, roughly 95% of food loss and waste in developing countries is through unintentional losses at early stages of the food supply chain due to financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques; storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions; infrastructure; packaging and marketing systems.

However, in the developed world the end of the chain is far more significant. At the food manufacturing and retail level in the developed world, large quantities of food are wasted due to inefficient practices, quality standards that over-emphasise appearance, confusion over date labels and consumers being quick to throw away edible food due to over-buying, inappropriate storage and preparing meals that are too large.

Per-capita waste by consumers is between 95 and 115 kg a year in Europe and North America/Oceania, while consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia each throw away only 6 to 11 kg a year.

“Together, we can reverse this unacceptable trend and improve lives. In industrialised regions, almost half of the total food squandered, around 300 million tonnes annually, occurs because producers, retailers and consumers discard food that is still fit for consumption,” said José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General. “This is more than the total net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa, and would be sufficient to feed the estimated 870 million people hungry in the world.

“If we can help food producers to reduce losses through better harvesting, processing, storage, transport and marketing methods, and combine this with profound and lasting changes in the way people consume food, then we can have a healthier and hunger-free world,” Graziano da Silva added.

Getting started with aquaponics isn’t as difficult as it may seem. Here are a few things to consider when choosing the plants for your aquaponics system.

Most people think that leafy green vegetables are the only plants that can be grown in an aquaponics system, but this is simply not the case. My experience is that almost any plant will grow including fruit trees, flowers and almost all other vegetables. Some things like potatoes and carrots will grow but are best suited to a wicking bed approach.

Most agree that grow beds with clay pellets or volcanic rock or similar media tend to yield better results. There are several different types of media you can use such as clay pebbles, gravel and pumice to name a few but you have to make sure the medium wont break down over time and that it wont change your water pH. It is recommended that grow beds be kept at a depth of 350mm for good stability of the root zone. It is also important to take your climate and location into consideration before you decide which plants to grow.

Below are some of the more commonly used plants that i have grown well in my systems in Newcastle Australia:

Getting started with aquaponics isn’t as difficult as it seems all you need is a little knowledge, patience and proper planning. Here are a few things to consider when planning your aquaponics system in your backyard .

Your Needs: One of the first steps before getting started with aquaponics is to decide how many people you intend to feed. An aquaponics system with one grow bed and 500lt fish tank could easily feed a family of 4 if done properly. It is also important to consider your location should your needs increase in the future or should you decide to expand your system.

The ratio of plants and fish in an aquaponics system is a reflection on the available filtration capacity or growbed size. In theory you should start with a 1:1 ratio- water in the growbeds should be equal to the amount of water available in your growbeds when your starting off, however after about 6 months you can increase the number of growbeds as your bacteria are well established.

Fish: Before deciding the type of fish for your system you should first consider what you intend to do with them. If you do not wish to harvest your fish to eat and or you are vegetarian you can use non edible ornamental fish such as Koi or Goldfish. Depending on where you live will determine your fish species choices. In Australia you can use trout, catfish, silver or jade perch, yabbies, barramundi, murray cod to name a few. All are excellent fish choices for your aquaponics system. It is important to note that too many fish in your aquaponics system will result in too much waste being produced so that the plants would not be able to consume it all. It may also lead to rapid fish death if you starve them of oxygen.

Plants:When it comes to plants, herbs and leafy vegetables are good first choices. Your aquaponics system can provide you with an endless supply of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and many other fruits and vegetables. It is important that your plant to fish ratio be maintained for your system to produce the expected yield and thrive.

Planning Ahead: At some point you may wish to expand your system. Before attempting this I strongly suggest that you first get familiar with what aquaponics is and how it all works before you embark on a larger sized system. With this being said you should take this into consideration before selecting your location as it will be much easier to maintain a single system vs. multiple ones. And always start small and increase it as your knowledge increases in time.